Super Bowl 2024: Patrick Mahomes continues great chase of Tom Brady as Kansas City Chiefs confirm NFL’s newest dynasty

Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs on a game-winning touchdown drive in overtime as Andy Reid’s side beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 to win Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas; it marks Mahomes’ third Super Bowl victory in six seasons as Chiefs starter.

Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men throw, catch, run and hunt a ball for four quarters spanning roughly three hours, and at the end – Patrick Mahomes always wins. Or something like that.

The final play call was named ‘Corn Dog’, Mahomes explained. The play to win the Super Bowl. The play to crown the Kansas City Chiefs back-to-back champions. The play to undo every ounce of guile and glitter that allowed the San Francisco 49ers to steamroll half of the league on the way to Las Vegas this season. It was called ‘corn dog’.

He is the NFL’s undisputed best, celebrating his third ring before the age of 30, hurtling towards all-time greatness, and he is still a kid playing ball. The smartest kid, the most gifted kid, the kid in the playground nobody dare touch, the kid in the playground nobody can touch. Andy Reid, at 65 years of age, is living vicariously through his champion quarterback as that very same ball-loving kid.

They sketch up some funk, slap a quirky name on it, say ‘why not?’ and torment the league. The dosage of funk has lessened in consistency in the face of the league-wide Mahomes bounty, and yet here he is again. Defenses retreated into two-high safety looks to successfully chisel his splash play opportunities downfield, edge rushers sharpened their lane discipline to limit his threat as an out-of-structure killer (see Nick Bosa on Sunday night), and an error-ridden ensemble of receiving options has left him piloting his most underwhelming offense since entering the NFL. Yet, here he is again.